Northwestern experts on SCOTUS taking up Trump v. Illinois case, National Guard and Constitutionality
‘The greatest fear of the nation’s founders was a standing federal army operating domestically to dominate the people,’ expert says
CHICAGO --- Northwestern University experts from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences are available to comment on the Trump administration’s efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Illinois despite objections from local and state officials, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Paul Gowder, professor of law, is available to speak on Trump v. Illinois, constitutionality, institutional norms and the Insurrection Act of 1807 possibly being used to justify deploying National Guard to Chicago.
Quote from Professor Gowder:
“The greatest fear of the nation’s founders was a standing federal army operating domestically to dominate the people. That’s why two of the foundational principles of our government are the superiority of civilian over military authority and the independent sovereignty of the states. But because sometimes crises require robust federal action, the Constitution gives Congress — not the President — a limited power to specify the conditions under which those principles may be temporarily set aside. Congress has exercised that power by passing statutes specifying the conditions under which the President may call the National Guard into domestic service.
“If we’re to be a nation of laws rather than a military regime, then those statutes must be obeyed, and the courts must be empowered to judge whether the conditions Congress has set in those statutes are satisfied.”
Jaime Dominguez, associate professor of Instruction in political science, is available to speak on immigration, race, ethnicity and local and national politics.
Quote from Professor Dominguez:
“This case will further mitigate the interpretation of federalism and the limits of expansion of executive power under the Trump administration. It will test the definition of state rights and state sovereignty over law enforcement matters. We will see if the Supreme Court allows the president to use the military as his personal army to go after and punish those states and their elected leadership that don’t capitulate to Trump’s political demands.”
Daniel Rodriguez, Harold Washington Professor of Law, is available to speak on Illinois v. Trump and the Insurrection Act of 1807 possibly being used to justify deploying National Guard to Chicago.
Nadav Shoked, professor of law, is available to speak on local/state/federal interface, powers over police forces and the role of cities in immigration policy.
Heidi Kitrosser, William W. Gurley Professor of Law, is available to speak on arguments made about whether Trump has the statutory authority to send in the National Guard.
To get in contact with any of the professors, please reach out to Shanice Harris at shanice.harris@northwestern.edu.